


The Invitation

by starrnobella



Series: 24 days of starrnobella [21]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 24 days of starrnobella, Advent Calendar, Christmas Countdown, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, F/M, Family Fluff, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 05:26:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13093338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrnobella/pseuds/starrnobella
Summary: He knew he would be surrounded by people very different from him when he finally accepted his cousin's olive branch in the form of an invitation to his annual Christmas party, what he never expect was to run into her.





	The Invitation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GaeilgeRua](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaeilgeRua/gifts).



> A/N: I swear I didn't mean to fill this collection with Rare Pairs when I started it off, but that looks to be the way that it has ended up! I do hope you all enjoy my first attempt at writing Dudley and that you don't mind yet another Mistletoe involved story.
> 
> This story was prompted by the ever so lovely GaeilgeRua and was beta read by the ever so wonderful xxDustNight88! Much love and happy thoughts to them both.
> 
> All of the usual disclaimers apply. I don't write for profit and I certainly don't own any of these characters. J. K. Rowling is a wonderful human being for supporting fanfiction and allowing authors to express themselves with the help of her characters and the world she created.
> 
> If you are interested in checking out my other works or keeping up with me in general, I have an author's page on Facebook that you can check out (starrnobella Fanfiction) as well as a group (starrnobella Fanfiction Friends & Fans) that I am very active in on a daily basis. I'm also on tumblr (starrnobella) that you can follow along with me as well.
> 
> Title: The Invitation  
> Pairing: Hermione/Dudley & Hinny  
> Rating: K  
> Summary: He knew he would be surrounded by people very different from him when he finally accepted his cousin's olive branch in the form of an invitation to his annual Christmas party, what he never expect was to run into her.
> 
> If you enjoy the fic, don't forget to drop a review!
> 
> Love always,
> 
> ~starr

He wasn't sure what to expect when he received the invite to Harry and Ginny's annual Christmas party. He kept looking at the invitation laying on the table. Should he go or should he stay at home and hide in his solitude? There was a large part of him that would have much rather stayed at home, but here he was, standing in his wardrobe attempting to figure out what he was going to wear.

This would be the first time Dudley would see his cousin since his parents had passed away unexpectedly a few years prior. The funeral was sad, and Dudley was grateful Harry had shown up. He wasn't proud of the way Vernon had treated Harry, but there was honestly nothing Dudley could have done at the time to make it stop.

He knew he would be surrounded by people very different from him when he walked inside the party later on this evening, but he knew he needed to go. If he didn't, then the animosity that had grown between him and his cousin would only worsen.

"Suck it up, buttercup," Dudley mumbled to himself, pulling on his suit jacket. With one last look in the mirror, Dudley shook his head and decided it was time to face the music. Grabbing his keys off the counter by the front door to his flat, he closed the door quickly behind him and was off.

It was better to arrive late than to never arrive to the party at all.

. . . . . . . .

He took a deep breath and rapped his knuckles against the large door at 12 Grimmauld Place. Bracing himself for whomever was about to greet him on the other side of the door, Dudley plastered a smile on his face awaiting his greeting.

The door flew open suddenly, catching him off guard and he was greeted by a young lady with a smile on her face and a few tendrils of her curly brunette hair falling in front of her face.

"Hello!" she cheered. "You must be Dudley! Harry told me to keep an eye out for you! Come on!"

She reached out and grabbed his hand to pull him inside. After a fleeting moment of reluctancy, Dudley allowed her to pull him inside. As he walked into the house, his nose was filled with the aroma of delicious food and his ears were filled with the sound of music. It was as though he was at a regular Christmas party, but there was a sneaking suspicion in the back of his mind that this party would be nothing like any other party he had ever attended.

The first thing he needed to do was to determine the name of his mysterious greeter who happened to be pulling him into the heart of the party. Maybe if he was lucky, someone would call out her name as they walked past. Or at the very least, his cousin would introduce them.

As they rounded the corner and crossed through a small doorway, Dudley realized he didn't recognize anyone in the room. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. He had hoped by the time he was this far into the party he would recognize at least one face.

"Have you seen Harry?" his mysterious greeter asked a young redheaded man just to his left.

The redheaded man looked familiar, but Dudley had no idea from where. He had never paid much attention to the people that Harry referred to as his friends. However, part of the reason for that was because his parents didn't believe in the magical abilities Harry was capable of and tried their hardest to keep Dudley as far away from it as possible.

"Did you check the kitchen? I thought I saw him sneak in there to help Gin with something a few minutes ago," the redhead replied with a shrug. "Why are you looking for him?"

"Dudley's here!" she exclaimed happily, turning around to smile at him. "By the way, I'm Hermione. I do believe I forgot to introduce myself earlier."

"Hello, Hermione," he replied with a smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"This is Ron, Harry's best friend and brother-in-law," she said, presenting Ron to him.

"Nice to meet you," Dudley said with a nod. "I believe I recall seeing the two of you at my parents' funeral. Thanks for coming."

"That's okay," Hermione said. "But let's focus on happy things! It's Christmas time and we need to locate your cousin. Kitchen you said?"

Ron nodded. "It's nice to meet you, Dudley. Hopefully she doesn't pull your arm off before the night it through."

With that said, Hermione dragged Dudley away to the kitchen in hopes to find his cousin. Although, if he was being honest with himself, Dudley would have much rather spend his time talking to Hermione and finding out what all they had in common rather than catching up with his cousin.

"Don't you start, Mr. Potter," a voice warned as they neared the kitchen. Dudley wasn't sure he wanted to know what was being said on the other side of the door. Deciding he needed to brace himself for anything, he took a deep breath before following Hermione into the room.

"Harry! Look who I found standing outside!" Hermione cheered, presenting Dudley to the couple who were surprised to see someone barging into the kitchen on them.

"Well, thanks for finding him," Harry replied, carding a hand through his hair as he walked around the island in the middle of the small kitchen. He appeared to be carefully avoiding the ever watchful eye of his wife.

He extended a hand to Dudley and smiled softly. "It's good to see you, Dudley. It's been far too long."

Dudley took his hand and shook it firmly. "It's good to see you too, Harry. I'm sorry I missed the wedding. Congratulations."

"Well, we actually haven't had the big celebration just yet," Harry replied with a laugh. "After the war and everything with Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, we decided it would be easier to do a quick Justice of the Peace type of thing and save the real wedding until our lives started making sense again."

Dudley nodded. "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense."

"Hey Gin, why don't we let these two catch up a little bit?" Hermione suggested, looping her arm in Ginny's and slowly dragging her towards the door. Ginny looked at her puzzled for a moment before glancing back at Harry and Dudley.

"Yeah, let's do that," Ginny replied, pushing Hermione out the door quickly.

. . . . . . . .

An hour or so later, Harry and Dudley finally emerged from the kitchen. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and the party. It also appeared the cousins were on good terms once again. Now it was time for Dudley to seek out his greeter from earlier in the evening, although not without asking Harry a few key questions first.

"So, question for you," Dudley said, turning to his cousin and crossing his arms over his chest.

"What's that?" Harry replied, turning towards Dudley with a smile on his face.

"Hermione, the one that met me at the door," Dudley began as his eyes scanned the room, looking for her in the crowd. "Is she, uh, seeing anyone?"

"Uhm, I don't think so. Or at least she hasn't since her and Draco split up earlier this year," Harry said with a shrug.

"Okay, cool," Dudley replied, smiling widely when he finally spotted her across the room. "I'll talk to you later, Harry."

"Talk to you later," Harry responded, turning in search of Ginny.

Dudley set his sights on Hermione and made his way through the crowd of people that were doing something strange with their hands until he arrived by her side. He was bound and determined to at least gain her number before the evening was out. There was something intoxicating about her.

"Hey, Hermione," he said, nervously tapping her on the shoulder.

She turned towards the voice that had snuck up behind her and smiled when she saw him. "Hey, Dudley! Did you and Harry have a good chat?" she asked, swaying slightly to the music playing in the background as she took a sip of her drink.

"We did," Dudley replied, nodding his head. "Having a good time this evening?"

"Definitely," she answered. "What about you? Find a place to fit in yet? I'm sure it's a little strange being in a magical house full of people performing silly little magic tricks."

Dudley tossed his head back with laugh. He took a deep breath and nodded his head before responding. "Yeah, Harry and I were watching the guy with the Irish accent try and do some kind of trick earlier. It was a little frightening."

"Yeah, I would be frightened watching Seamus do magic. He caused quite a few explosions back in Hogwarts," Hermione said with a laugh. "But besides that little scare, are you having a good time?"

"I am, thanks. I didn't really know what to expect when I got the invitation in the mail, but I'm glad I decided to come," Dudley said with a smile. "Would you like to dance?"

Hermione nodded her head furiously. "Absolutely," she said excitedly, taking his hand and pulled him out onto the makeshift dance floor. On their way to the center of the floor, they accidentally bumped shoulders with a few others. Hermione apologized to them quickly before returning her focus on finding a bit of empty dance floor.

Harry and Ginny noticed the commotion in the middle of the room and turned to see what exactly was happening. When they realized who it was, they turned to one another and smiled. Their plan had worked.

"We did it," Harry whispered in Ginny's ear before gently kissed her cheek.

"We almost did it," Ginny said with a smile, resting her head on Harry's shoulder and mumbled a soft spell. Almost immediately after she closed her eyes, there was a small crackling sound just barely heard of the music. When she opened her eyes, she saw the fruits of her labor appearing on the ceiling.

"Mistletoe?" Harry asked, quirking his head to the side and furrowing his brow.

"Mistletoe," Ginny said, nodding her head. "It'll seal the deal."

"Good plan, love," Harry replied.

The couple then moved to find the perfect spot to watch the rest of their evil scheme play out. Not that the plan was evil or a scheme, but it made things sound a little more fun.


End file.
